THE TYGRRRR EXPRESS

Liberals created and keep fueling the MAGA movement

Donald Trump’s third straight presidential run has conservatives split between “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) die-hards and those singing Bob Seger’s “Turn the page.” Liberals uniformly oppose Trump for a litany of reasons. Many liberals see Mr. Trump as Frankenstein’s monster. These liberals fail to realize this makes them Frankenstein. They created Trump, nurtured him, and continue eight years later to feed, fuel and motivate him and his MAGA movement.

Understanding Trump’s initial rise requires returning to 2011. Governor Mitt Romney cleaned President Barack Obama’s clock in their first presidential debate. The Obama team realized a positive reelection campaign like Ronald Reagan’s 1984 “Morning in America” or Bill Clinton’s 1996 “Bridge to the 21^st Century” would fail during tough economic times.

Romney was like Mr. Rogers, only nicer. Obama’s team successfully painted polite Midwesterner Romney as a racist, sexist, heartless, plutocratic vulture capitalist who enjoyed firing people. Obama verbally decked Romney and punched his way to a second term.

Romney and Senator John McCain before him pulled punches out of fear of blowback from criticizing America’s first partially black president. With Hillary Clinton in 2016, Republicans faced the same quandary.

Republicans needed a street brawler. Rudy Giuliani underperformed in 2008.  New Jersey’s Chris Christie underwhelmed in 2012. Both opted out in 2016. Only Donald Trump remained.

Republicans overlooked Trump’s behavior because he was a ferocious counter-puncher. No blow was out of bounds. Rosie O’Donnell started a feud with him for laughs. He made her cry.

Trump’s campaign was also a fist in the eyes of smug late-night comedians. Seth Meyers roasted Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, calling him a “joke.” John Oliver dared Trump to run. Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Kimmel ridiculed him. They stopped laughing after he won.

Yet the biggest gift American liberals gave Trump was a clear policy lane. His undisciplined personal style aside, Trump was remarkably disciplined on policy. Voters felt economic angst, and Trump repeatedly hammered the same two themes of trade and immigration he had addressed for over 30 years.

Democrats focused on social issues. Voters understood at the time that abortion was legal and gay marriage was law of the land. Climate change registered at the bottom of opinion surveys.

On election day, Trump campaigned in Wisconsin. Hillary partied with A-list celebrities. Trump’s victory equated to “Caddyshack” Rodney Dangerfield defeating Ted Knight’s Judge Smails. The slobs defeated the snobs.

Eight years later, many Democrats still have not learned. Some prop Trump up under the belief he cannot win. More plausibly, they cannot ignore him. The more President Joe Biden’s approval languishes, the more Democrats frighten voters with “Orange Man Bad.”

Democrats mock Trump, his policies, and worst of all, his voters. Indicting Trump and raiding his Mar-A-Lago home under flimsy charges emboldens him. He successfully paints his critics as wacky conspiracy theorists who insist he is a Russian spy. His supporters rush to defend him when he claims, “They’re not after me. They’re after you. I’m just in the way.” Most Trump voters are not racists, sexists, conspiracy theorists or insurrectionists. They just want a better life.

Democrats created MAGA by condescendingly dismissing Trump voters as society’s filthy dregs. Trump reminded these voters that their lives also matter.

With spiraling inflation, food and fuel prices, and crime, Democrats need better answers than blaming Trump. Even those questioning his policy prescriptions concede that at least he has them. Democrats attacking voters as Gaea-killing transphobes give Trump his opening.

Had Democrats sacrificed Obama’s identity politics, Romney may have served two very moderate terms. Flaming culture wars would have been on the back burner of a quiet, non-controversial technocratic administration.  Trump would have spent a decade building bigger, better golf courses.

A 2024 Trump win would again be by default. He can win if enough voters believe Democrats, as in 2016, remain indifferent to their survival.

Christian children murdered: The unanswered transgender question

Time must not allow the Nashville massacre to fade into obscurity.

In a shocking display of brutality, a transgender individual broke into her former Nashville Christian school and shot six people to death. Three innocent children and three adult employees are no longer with us. Two Tennessee police offers subsequently shot and killed Audrey Hale, ending the threat.

The heartbreaking murders on March 28^th turned the political world upside down. The LGBTQ+ community has long claimed to be victims of bullying. In the Nashville horror, the transgender person was the cold-blooded aggressor. Christians were the victims.

The typical deflection to gun control preceded the expected straw man argument about reprisals. A backlash against the LGBTQ+ community is fiction. Most Americans are good, decent people who eschew painting entire groups with a broad brush. Americans did not rampage against Muslims after 9/11 or assault Jews due to the 2008 financial crisis. No sane person would even think about blaming Caitlyn Jenner for Audrey Hale’s evil act.

Yet the shooter’s sexual orientation cannot be ignored either. It is central to the shooting, not peripheral. Rather than cower in fear of transphobia accusations, Americans must ask the unanswered transgendered question.

Is it dangerous to change genders?

Before some heads explode, this question is medical, not political. It is one thing for an adult man like Bruce Jenner to make a life-altering decision. Children could face far more risks.

Adopting a new pronoun is simple. A gender change involves complex physical alterations to the human body. These alterations can include serious surgical changes and chemical drugs.

Some drugs do cause violent behavior. Many people who consumed powder or crack cocaine committed crimes in the heat of violent rages. Crystal meth addicts often turn to violent crime to feed their habit.

It is not an attack on gay or transgendered people to ask questions about puberty blockers. Anyone who believes in science should demand that every drug be scrutinized. If Viagra, Rogaine or Theraflu were causing violence, they would hopefully be pulled from the market. The Food and Drug Administration must not hold puberty blockers to a lower standard.

The transgender movement is relatively new. It only began gaining steam in 2015. Eight years is not a lot of time to get drugs to market, much less have comprehensive studies verifying their safety and efficacy. Time horizons matter. This is why many Americans refusing to take the Covid vaccine support vaccinations for polio, measles, and other diseases.

Puberty blockers could be completely safe. Either way, the American Medical Association must release every single study done on every single one of these drugs. Experts for and against these drugs should have public debates where neither side is censored.

Rather than feel persecuted, the LGBTQ+ community should demand to know if the drugs their community is taking are safe. As with the 1980s AIDS crisis, it is far better to hurt people’s feelings than let them die.

It is totally understandable for gay and transgender people to be skeptical about motives. Studies linking being gay to pedophilia were debunked, but not until after causing many innocent gay people significant pain. Trust of others is difficult, but people on both sides of the transgender rights debate have to unite on this issue of drug testing.

Did Audrey Hale take puberty blockers? Can these drugs cause violent behavior in a percentage of people who take them? If yes, what percentage? If yes, should they be banned? Are there other drugs that can counteract potential violence?

Evangelical Christian conservatives and leftist transgender activists can agree on the most important point of all. Nothing in this world is worse than innocent murdered children.

We need to ask this hard transgender question and get honest answers before one more child of any orientation suffers an untimely violent death.   

Juneteenth and Festivus: The Airing of Grievances

For those wondering why the banks, stock market and post office took an extra day off, the answer is Juneteenth. The new federal holiday commemorates the day in 1865 when Texas gave black people emancipation. Juneteenth was supported by former President Donald Trump and signed into existence by President Joe Biden in 2021. As with virtually everything else in today’s era, Juneteenth opinions are sharply divided.

The stated purpose of Juneteenth was historical and educational. By educating white Americans about the black struggle for freedom, understanding could bring racial healing. In reality, Juneteenth risks being turned into a day of negativity.

For one thing, Americans already honor Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday in January.

Yet Juneteenth is more than just repetitive. Leftists are already attempting to hijack this new holiday and turn it into the new Festivus. For those unfamiliar with the 1990s television show “Seinfeld,” Festivus was the fictional holiday celebrated by George Costanza’s father and inflicted upon George. The main Festivus ritual was the “airing of grievances.” Festivus achieved cultlike status in America. Every December 23rd, Senators Rand Paul and Ted Cruz take to television and social media to air their grievances. Millions of everyday people join in the fun.

In reality, grievance politics is destructive. America fought a brutal Civil War and conquered the evils of slavery and segregation. The 1954 unanimous decision in Brown vs. Board of Education declared that “Separate is inherently unequal.” The very people who fought for integration have seen their children fight for resegregation. “Lift every voice and sing” has become for many the new Black National Anthem. Far too many black leftists have declared June 19th the new Black Independence Day.

Conservatives are already frustrated with leftists in America who fly rainbow gay pride flags throughout June but will not fly red, white and blue flags for one day on July 4th. Now there are black leftists who will fly the Juneteenth flag but not the American flag.

As with Veterans Day and Memorial Day, far too many people in America have already rendered the holiday as just another day off from school or work. Some people attended Juneteenth barbecues. Others took advantage of Juneteenth mattress day sales. Sadly, far too many young black people used the day off to kill each other. Initial reports recorded 12 deaths and over 100 injuries from Juneteenth violence, mostly black-on-black. As usual, Chicago led the carnage.

The good news is there is good news. Plenty of black conservatives led by pastors are determined to make Juneteenth a positive meaningful holiday. These black conservatives stated unequivocally that all Americans should commemorate Juneteenth and Independence Day on July 4th. Juneteenth can reflect the painful past but also celebrate how far we have come.

People did overcome. White Americans grieved over the recent deaths of Jim Brown and Tina Turner. Ray Charles and Whitney Houston performed the greatest renditions respectively of “American the Beautiful” and “The Star Spangled Banner.” Democrats went from the party of slavery to electing a biracial President Barack Obama and a multiracial Vice President Kamala Harris. Republicans from Abraham Lincoln on down abolished slavery and passed numerous civil rights laws. The GOP had a black conservative in Herman Cain leading the presidential race. Now Republicans have a serious black conservative presidential candidate in South Carolina Senator Tim Scott.

Mr. Scott is running a positive campaign, declaring himself and his family the embodiment of the American dream. On Monday, his Juneteenth remarks offered the pitch perfect tone. “We honor Juneteenth not to dwell on our original sin as a nation, but to showcase just how far we’ve come.”

Heeding Scott’s approach would render Juneteenth a valuable holiday. Endless grievances will divide Americans further and make Juneteenth the Black Festivus.

Not since Booker T. Washington and W.E. Dubois has such a vital debate taken place. For this alone, Juneteenth has positive potential.